The Art of Returning to the Ancestors

It was not until two months later that Xu Fugui finally brought back useful information.

The Xu Family had a caravan planning to head to the "Desolate Ruins Market" in the coming days, and they could take someone along with them.

The Desolate Ruins Market, as the name implied, was related to the Wilderness, situated upon a site of ancient ruins.

The region it occupied had once belonged to the Wilderness, but it was later reclaimed, cleared of demonic beasts, thoroughly razed, and developed into a marketplace.

Now, it was as secure as an iron fortress, having become entirely human territory.

This market was neither too close nor too far from the front lines of the Wilderness. It was not controlled by the top-tier powers, serving instead as a frontier Trade Hub that functioned as a private enclave, yet it remained incredibly prosperous, with many cultivators coming and going and numerous factions passing through.

It was a perfect destination that met Lin Changheng's needs.

Xu Fugui was quite sharp; he did not mention Lin Changheng's name, instead using personal favors to squeeze him into the group.

It actually worked, and the caravan was set to depart in five days.

As for the potential reward Xu Fugui had been obsessing over—the one for dragging a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator of the Chen Family into the poison miasma—the Xu Family had not mentioned it again.

For this, Xu Fugui sighed and lamented for a long time, expressing his apologies to Lin Changheng, as he had boasted too confidently in the beginning.

Lin Changheng merely shook his head, unbothered.

Aside from Xu Fugui, no one knew of Lin Changheng's plan to leave.

To this end, he specifically requested a month's leave from the Xu Family, claiming he had felt a vague premonition and intended to go into seclusion to break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining.

The Xu Family had no reason to refuse; after all, Lin Changheng was a registered guest elder, not a beast of burden for the Xu Family.

Especially since Lin Changheng possessed decent talent in alchemy and had a chance of becoming a mid-grade alchemist, they were even less likely to treat him harshly.

Lin Changheng was confident in this.

In fact, after Xu Xuzhong, the manager of the General Affairs Hall, reported the matter to the higher-ups of the clan, they not only agreed to the leave request but also waived his alchemy quota for that month.

Lin Changheng secretly thought as expected, and he did not forget to thank Xu Xuzhong, even adding quite responsibly, "I will finish processing the waste and inferior pills before I take my leave."

Xu Xuzhong was deeply moved. This young man was truly devoted to the clan and possessed talent; such a person was rare indeed.

It was a pity he lacked emotional ties; otherwise, if he were fully integrated into the clan, it would be a great blessing for the Xu Family.

Perhaps, he could be betrothed to the daughter of a high-ranking member; strengthening this connection through such a bond would not be a bad idea.

Thinking this, he had someone bring out the waste and inferior pills that had been accumulated over the past half-month and handed them to Lin Changheng.

Lin Changheng did not know the specific thoughts running through Xu Xuzhong's mind.

He did this simply because he did not want to waste the essence and blood within these demonic beast dregs.

He extracted the essence and blood from the waste and inferior pills using the standard method.

[Fire Crow Treasure Seed: Fifth Layer]

[Spirit Snatch: 100/100]

[Life Transformation: 0/10]

[Effect: Low-grade demonic beast bloodline, naturally possesses fire affinity. Spirit Snatch complete, Life Transformation contains the Dao; can be refined into the bloodline atavism divine ability "Fire Control" true intent.]

"Spirit Snatch is complete, but I still have no clue about [Life Transformation]. I shall experiment with it properly once I leave the market."

After all, he was quite envious of the [Fire Control] true intent brought by this bloodline atavism divine ability.

The [Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed] also successfully completed its Spirit Snatch, reaching the fifth layer.

[Already refined: Poison Neutralization Art · Mastery]

[Effect: Body briefly coexists with poison, slowly refining mid-grade toxins.]

This meant that no matter how toxic a poison was, it could not immediately take his life, and mid-grade toxins were essentially no longer a threat to him.

The first half was very important.

One had to know that in the world of cultivation, many toxins did not kill directly; instead, they caused dizziness, stiffness, or other effects to create openings, allowing the enemy to strike and kill.

The poison did not kill; the magical artifacts did.

Therefore, "body briefly coexists with poison" could temporarily suppress the effects of the toxin, preventing him from being ambushed during a duel, allowing him to refine it once he had a moment to spare.

His survival capability had increased once again!

However, to Lin Changheng's surprise, He had already prepared himself, holding his mind steady to welcome the [Origin Cauldron] mutation brought about by the fifth layer of the treasure seed's Spirit Snatch.

As it turned out, it was calm and quiet; the Origin Cauldron merely trembled slightly.

There was no sound of bells ringing or cauldrons clashing, nor did the ancient beast patterns on the cauldron's surface writhe as if coming to life, and certainly no earth-shaking beast roars.

"Huh?"

Lin Changheng was stunned.

In the spot within his sea of consciousness where the emerald-green treasure seed had once resided, a phantom true core now stood in its place, flickering amidst the cyan clouds.

[Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed · Level 5]

[Spirit Snatch: 3/100]

[Life Transformation: 0/10]

[Utility: Miscellaneous monster beast bloodline, naturally endowed with wood properties. Once Spirit Snatch is perfected and Life Transformation cultivates the Dao, it can be refined into the bloodline atavism monster art "Poison Neutralization."]

"A bloodline atavism monster art? Not a divine ability?"

Lin Changheng grasped the key point immediately.

"And it's called 'Poison Neutralization'? The name hasn't changed?"

Since the Origin Cauldron had shown no abnormal changes, Lin Changheng had been mentally prepared, yet he still couldn't help but sigh, "As expected, not everyone's ancestors were once wealthy..."

This held true for humans, and it held true for monster beasts as well.

The Green Wood Snake was clearly from the line of ancestors who had been quite ordinary.

Judging solely by the name "monster art," one knew it was inferior to a "divine ability," though the actual gap would only be known once Life Transformation was successful.

By now, the state of Lin Changheng's spirit roots had undergone a heaven-turning, earth-shattering change.

His Fire Spirit Root possessed fifteen wisps of spiritual essence! The newly added wisp was brought about by the Origin Treasure Seed reaching the second level.

His Wood Spirit Root came next, boasting twelve wisps! This was due to the Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed reaching the fifth level.

His Earth Spirit Root followed, having long since been raised to eight wisps!

His Metal and Water Spirit Roots remained unchanged, still at five wisps each.

He was now a genuine dual-element Fire and Wood inferior-grade spirit root cultivator.

The appointed time finally arrived.

This was the first time Lin Changheng had stepped out since arriving at the Xu Family's base nearly five years ago, and his heart was filled with a myriad of emotions.

During this period, Lin Changheng had specifically visited Princess Dantai to present her with a few high-quality medicinal pills, mentioning that he would be going into seclusion and might be unreachable when the time came.

"Congratulations, Brother Lin."

Upon hearing this, Dantai Feiyue's star-like eyes swept over Lin Changheng a few times before she suddenly beamed.

The woman's expression was slightly unusual; Lin Changheng sensed it, but he couldn't quite fathom the reason for the moment, so he didn't stay long and took his leave.

Having crossed the river and boarded the pack-horse carriage, Lin Changheng had long since altered his appearance. Wearing a wide, flowing robe and a bamboo hat, with a human-skin mask applied to his face, his look had changed so drastically that who could possibly recognize him?

This Xu Family caravan was small in number and extremely streamlined, consisting of only four carriages and a dozen or so people.

Lin Changheng sat in the rear carriage, closing his eyes to rest his mind.

Sharing the carriage with him were two others: a woman wearing a veiled hat and an old man also wearing a bamboo hat.

Both had obscured their faces to varying degrees, making them difficult to discern clearly.

The three of them did not converse, each pretending to doze.

The journey was uneventful, and six days later, after crossing the mountains, a gray, dusty, large-scale market appeared before the travel-worn group.

"Desolate Ruins Market, we've arrived!"

The slightly relieved and joyful voice of a caravan cultivator drifted in from outside the carriage.

Lin Changheng stepped off the carriage and looked, feeling as if a giant beast were crouching in the vast, desolate world.

All around, there were clear traces of mountain peaks having been shattered.

They had been smashed apart by brute force to clear a flat expanse of land, serving as the foundation for the market.